♪ imus in the morning ♪ >> thanksgiving week, the unions know it. they will be in your face when you shop and travel. good morning, everyone, airport workers demonstrate at l.a. and chicago. dock workers strike in oakland and portland. moveon.org urges maximum turnout at the wal-mart protest this friday. this holiday week the unions are using their leverage, but they went too far with the twinkie. talks with the bakers union to keep the company alive have failed, hostess is it gone. bakeries closed, 18,500 jobs thereabouts gone. a terror attack inside israel. a bomb on a bus in tel aviv. ten injuries reported. secretary of state clinton is in

jerusalem and she goes to cairo today. this is "varney & company," an all star, pre-holiday lineup. here we go. 

>> top story. the unions are excertifying maximum pressure right now the at worst possible time. people want to shop and unions are making both difficult. sciu expects more than a thousand marches at los angeles international airport and say the company they work for, a contractor for the airport broke the union and took away health insurance and demonstrating. and protests planned at o'hare in chicago. a new company providing custodial services there, nonunion, protests. and a strike, and another one at the port in portland. and a huge protest planned at one thousand wal-mart stores on friday. workers angry about wages and benefit and threaten to tie up wal-mart parking lots on what is

a crucial shopping day and hostess, the bakers union refusing to make a deal and now the company is going to be liquidated. yes, it is, 18,000 jobs or thereabouts lost, and unions throwing their weight around this holiday week. if you don't watch the entire one hour and 40 minutes show this program every day, you're bound to miss something good. and a lively discussion with eric schoenberg, a patriotic millionaires, he's rich and he wants people to pay more tax. >> and did you inherit wealth. >> first of all, yes, i inherited wealth. >> you inherited. but also made money on my own. stuart: wait a minute, you inherited wealth. >> i did. stuart: what about the rest of us strivers, charles payne. all of us. >> all three of us. stuart: it was good. we'll have more of that interview coming up in our next hour when andrea tantaros and don peebles. you can see the whole thing on your facebook page.

and grover norquist, says the republican will not cave on the fiscal cliff and that the g.o.p. will not agree to higher tax rate. i disagree with that. grover coming up after the break. so, too, is the opening bell. next, is this what republicans are up against? >> we cannot afford to extend the bush tax cuts for the wealthy. what i'm not going to do is to extend bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% that we can't afford. can your hearing aid do this?

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money, but of course, they'll start talking again on monday morning. no impact whatsoever on the stock market this morning. you're probably going to see a fairly light day, after all, the markets closed tomorrow for thanksgiving and it has to open on friday you can't close the stock market for more than three days straight so it opens friday, but ins a pre-holiday session likely to be pretty slow. the trading day has begun and we're expecting a pretty flat opening and that's what we've got. we're down .92. another unofficial economic indicator for you, john deere, the equipment maker of course, profits missed the mark. all right, nicole, how did that stock open. >> it's down 3% for john deere when you talk about heavy equipment and coming out with sales numbers that are disappointing here. the profit was weak. they've had higher manufacturing costs and expenses that cut into their earning and also saying a stronger dollar was one of the reasons why their numbers are

and you're seeing the stock down 3%. a big drop for a big stock. the fbi launching inquiry in autonomy, hewlett-packard. >> i thought maybe we'd get a little pop, but slightly lower, not too far off the unchanged line, but now the questions bin as autonomy, the company they acquired, is being very, very strong standing in saying, listen, we were very clear with our numbers, why is hp coming out now. it's going to be a big mess. stuart: i've got to say, nicole, i feel bad for meg whitman, she walked into this, it's none of her doing, i don't believe whatsoever and here she's got this accounting crisis on her hands. that's tough when she comes into a job like this. >> let's see if she has a happy thanksgiving. stuart: oh, please. nicole, thank you very much. the dow industrials as said are expected to be dead flat and

they are, we're down .22. politics, here are the two sides of the current tax question. president obama and the democrats want to raise tax rates of incomes over 250 k. republicans oppose that. so the question, can the two sides come together and compromise? our next guest says, no, they won't. because republican will not budge on taxes and he says, i'm quoting now, the fantasy is that the republicans came on marginal tax rates, they're nonnegotiatable. joining us now grover norquist for americans for tax reform. grover, let me start with my position because i think you and i agree with principle. flat-out, raising tax rates, real bad, bad idea. here is where i disagree with you, i disagree because of political reality. i think the president holds the cards and can force the republicans to cave. tell me i'm wrong. >> well, that's the president's narrative. he thinks it's just like 2008, when he won the presidency, and

now he's got all of this power. remember how quickly he threw away his 70% approval rating from the 2008 election, when he went with the spend, spend, spend approach. he's now walking in with a 50-plus percent approval rating and going for tax and spends, tax and spend. i think he'll find his approval, begin to continue its way down from where it was when he first ran. and secondly, the republicans won the house of representatives, and they won it after redistricting, which means they're all running in the same districts for ten years, so, that republican majority is here for a long time and it's fairly comfortable, they're not going to be pushed back or bullied around. the president's gone in four years, the republican house is there for ten, and they all won, having voted for and debated and discussed and explained, the ryan plan, which is entitlement reform and tax reform. it is a tougher house than we've

ever had capable. >> grover, i'm looking at your picture in the new york times of all places, your picture is in the new york times yesterday, saying-- i can't hold it up because, it's there. okay? there he is. that's grover norquist in the new york times. basically, you're saying, you're going to hold the line. it's a tough house, you're going to hold the line. okay, now, bear with me for a second. you fast forward until the end of december, there's no deal. the republicans is not caved and the president is pressing for higher tax rates on the rich. he says to the republicans, look what you're doing, you're going to push us over the cliff, you're going to push us into recession and you're going to get the blame and do you doubt for one moment that the republicans would get the blame if we go into recession and over the cliff? 'cause they would, you know, and there's another vote coming up in two years and they'd be carrying that around and they carry a recession around their neck. go. >> it is true that cbs will tell that story. but, what i've been urging the

republicans to do is two things, one is, to insist that the negotiations, as we move forward, be on c-span and the reason for that we know from woodward's book and from talking to the participants, the democrats would sit in rooms and say tax increase, tax increase, tax increase and tell the press they'd been discussing entitlement reform and why weren't the republicans. and if they have to say publicly what they say in the meeting, the democrat's position is not sustainable. let's get the cameras there. obama ran for president in 2008 promising-- >> he promised exactly that, okay, go. >> second piece once you're done and you come up with some plan, it needs to be written down in legislative language not essay form, simpson-bowles and hyku. and it means something and needs

to be on-line for seven days and obama also promised he would govern that way when he ran the first time and of course, none of his major initiatives would have been passed if obamacare had been open for seven days for public inspection or the stimulus package. they both began to fall apart as soon as people realized what was in them, but then, it was too late. tarp would not have been passed the way it was. stuart: you're right. >> with seven days. >> those two things give us the protection and there within the bounds, republicans can insist on those. stuart: that's very interesting. one last point. >> sure. stuart: would you be prepared to compromise if it was just an increase on the tax rates on people making more than a million dollars? >> okay. the answer is i think that would be a mistake because obama wants to use the shiny distraction of taxes on the rich. in husband budget he raises taxes on the rich. people who make more than $200,000 a year and he raised

800 billion dollars in his budget from them. and after that he runs up 8 trillion dollars in debt. so, even if he won, everything he says he wants on taxes, he has an 8 trillion dollar debt and that's where he's coming against the middle class with an energy tax and eventually, a value-added tax. he wants to have a conversation about a meaningless and small, but damaging dax on high income people and on savings and investment. what his real goal is in fact an energy tax on the middle class and we need to focus on and where are you getting the 8 billion dollars that you're talking about, trillion, trillion, trillion, i'm sorry, 8 trillion. stuart: we heard you. you know, grover, that c-span idea, that's a really, really good idea because the president did say he wanted that all those years ago. >> yeah. stuart: grover, i'm sorry i'm out of time, but i know you're going to be coming back between now and january the 1st and we welcome your return. thanks, grover. >> have a good time.

take care. stuart: thanks, sir. in the middle east, a terror attack in tel aviv, a bomb on a bus exploded across from a military headquarters, at least 20 people wounded. this comes as secretary of state hillary clinton continues cease-fire talks between israel and gaza's militant hamas rulers. clinton held talks with palestinian president abbas in the the west bank and will meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and egyptian president mohammad morsi later on today, a continuing effort to end the violence after more than a week of quieting. here is the price of oil right now. i believe we're around $87 a barrel. 87.42, up 67 cents, that's where we are. we call this on "varney & company," we call it a renewed push for action due to climate change. now, the u.n. is joining in the dire warnings. coming up new at 10. find out exactly what the united nations plans to do about it. can anybody say carbon tax? yeah, you can. back to nicole, today, what have

we got. best buy a loser? why? >> well, yesterday we talked about their numbers. they were a loser yesterday about their same-store sales for yet another quarter. nine of the last ten quarters have shown decline. today, well, let's see, one analyst downgraded best buy. how about deutche bank? yep, how about bernstein. >> yep, jeffers, you get the point. and while they're doing well with mobile phones, appliances, tablet computers and e-readers, no on notebooks, gaming products. they're missing the numbers, off to the ten year low. stuart: that's analysts when they turn against you, it can be grim, can't it? nicole, thank you. dead flat market, but the market has reached 12-8. we're up 13 points. time is money, 30 seconds, here is what else we have today.

i'm a capitalist and i lovemaking money and i don't blame stores for being open tomorrow. because the customers want to shop. is there something wrong when people don't want to spend holidays at home with their families? father jonathan morris will be here to discuss that one and this year, millions of people will be thankful for food stamps, many of them are in fact needily clearly and 47 million on food stamps? are we really the entitlement nation? i say yes. what will doug schoen say? he'll be with us and i'll present my turkey of the year awards in my take, that comes up in our next hour. and who is turkey of the year? we have he that's on "varney & company." seven early movers, business software providers salesforce.com posted a loss and results apparently better than expected and up goes the stock. a disappointing outlook from tilley's, a clothing retailer. it's down. nts realty says the chairman and

chief executive upped their office to take it private and stock is up. the publishing company scholastic, lowered, down 19%. and chipotle grim added to the share buyback and 277 for chipotle. bigger than expected loss of the jewelry retailer, zale's down 22%. more money coming in at deere, but the profits disappoint and the stock is a big stock, very important, down 3 1/2%. not much change for the dow. we're up. and a botched ipo at facebook, charges of fraud at hewlett-packard and apple losing its luster, is it worth the risk and time to buy any of the three stocks? one of our top market watchers weighs in on that next. [ male announcer ] how do you tra?

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>> wednesday morning, pre-market trading, very slow, not much movement, but the dow is at 12-8. the same story for the price of oil. not much changed. it is up 66 cents, 87 a barrel. and joining the company now, shah gilani, with money morning, all right, shah. we've got three stocks, all of them kind of beaten down and i want to know if you see any value in them. the day before thanksgiving would you buy any of them? i'm going to start with hewlett-packard, where else could i start? go. >> one of the biggest turkeys out there right now. stuart: that's cruel. >> it is true. and regardless of this accounting scandal as they're calling it, the fact that management allowed the company to buy this without doing proper

due diligence. i don't know what the rush was, really where their heads were at. i think the management shuffling has been abominable and i think there's no reason to own this company. stuart: that was such a huge, well-respected company and it's come so far down so horribly quickly. >> it's a fallen giant. if you look the at the graph and i look at technicals a lot when i look at confirmation of fundamentals. it looks like a fallen giant. every time it tries to get up. it slips and falls again, the graph is ugly and i don't think there's anywhere to go. i would play it on a short-term basis as a trader and it might pop here and there, long-term i'd want nothing to do with it. >> facebook, you can't call it a fallen giant, it never rose. >> it's not the ipo. okay, would you, now, it went down to 16, 17, from 38. 17 and change, okay, now it's back to around 22, 23. would you buy it now long-terms, hold it long-term? >> i actually was hoping to

start acquiring it when it was below 20. when it popped considerably above 20 when the news came out that their mobile strategy was taking shape and at the same time, the same day, a lot of overhead stocks supposed to be put out in the market and depress the price, it didn't happen. and that surprised me, i was waiting to wade in the upper teens and probably hold that ground and some accumulation below 20. >> i want to do apple fast. that came from 500 and small change and now 564, are you an apple buyer. >> no, 68% institutionally owned, largest position on apple hedge funds, wouldn't own it. stuart: you just don't like them, all three of them. >> too much overhead, stock. stuart: you're an honest guy, shah gilani, the day before thanksgiving that's a good thing. thank you, appreciate it. time for the morning gold report. where are we this wednesday morning? >> we're at 1,724.90 same as the

markets, barely changed this morning. record number of people now on food stamps and after being challenged on twitter, the mayor says he'll live on food stamps at least a week. and don peebles, is $133 a month for food enough? good question, next. ♪ what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> new jersey's mayor, cory booker, will live on food stamps for at least a week and challenged a twitter follower of his to do the same. the average per person benefit for food stamps in new jersey is $133 per month. is mayor booker, andrea, is he positioning himself for a run for the presidency as a man of the people? >> i think he might be positioning himself for the presidency, but first, maybe a challenge to governor chris christie. stuart: yeah, could be. >> i have a theory on that one. stuart: go. >> i wonder if some kind of deal was struck where chris christie

says i'll give you a big fat wet kiss before the election, but don't campaign too hard against me in 2013 when i run for reelection, and cory booker. >> i don't think, but mayor booker, i know cory well, a great mayor, brought private sector-- >> name dropper. stuart: a democrat. >> a new generation democrat because he took a position pretty consistent with where i was with this class warfare argument during the campaign and this issue about attacking private equity and as you know, he got a little bit of repercussions for that, but i think he was defining himself as being an independent democrat. which, more and more of us, in my generation, there are more and more of us who are pro business, very entrepreneurial and also consistent with the democrats-- >> 20 seconds left. could you live on $133 a month for food.

>> no. stuart: andrea? >> i should try it because now how fabulous i'd look, i'd be so skinny, and camera adds ten pounds and looking great. stuart: $133 a month. >> my wife probably could, 5-11 weighs 120 pounds. stuart: case closed. >> and she eats more than i do. stuart: and whatever. and we have been saying since the day after election that a carbon tax is coming. we hear a lot of talk about the dangers of climate change and now, new at ten. united nations is joining the cause. >> extremely important issue for me and i hope we can address it as something we've seen with these storms is overwhelming our country and the world. we need to do something about it. >> but it is undeniable, but there's climate change. you can have a great political argument about what caused the climate change, whatever the cause, it is happening. >> i am a firm believer that

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stuart: new at 10:00, add the united nations to the growing list of politicians and institutions that are clamoring for something to be done about climate change.

the u.n. says the countries of the world are not doing enough to curb carbon emissions and reduce the earth's temperature. can't you just see the carbon tax? here it comes. here is our company this wednesday morning right before thanksgiving. we give thanks for this company. andrea tantaros is here, co-host of five on the fox news channel. and a real estate mogul is also with us. and nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. let's check the big board. wednesday before thanksgiving. not much volume, virtually none. the dow is up a mere 42 points, but back above 12,800. here's the big story this day before thanksgiving. the big story is the unions. they are exerting maximum pressure on travel and shopping during this thanksgiving week. first to the airports, 1,000 union workers planning to march on los angeles international airport. that could tie up traffic, make it difficult to get to the airport. the problem there at the moment

is fog, as you can see. similar situation at o'hare in chicago. angry union workers planning a protest there could be some disruption. wal-mart workers, threatening something similar on friday. huge shopping day, workers say they will protest in the parking lots of maybe a thousand wal-marts, making it hard for shoppers to get in, maybe deterring some people. and finally, we have hostess, driven into liquidation by the baker's union, refusing to make a deal, even the teamsters say the bakers should give in, but they won't. unions have the leverage and they are going to use it now. >> i understand from a communication standpoint they would do it on a big day, we are all talking about it, making headlines in a slow news cycle. really are you going to win everyone else in your side in the public relations war? stuart: i don't think that's the

objective. >> i don't either. i think they are goldfish, they just eat and eat and it is never enough. this is not a good time to be doing this. they have a tougher time battling in states like in wisconsin. stuart: i would argue they are not going after public opinion. they are not trying to win converts in the general public. i think they are out to hurt wal-mart and airlines. that's what i think. >> i agree. the goal is to make american airlines lose business, lose customer base and cry uncle because it's in their financial interest, because these delays, you know, i have lawyers that come in from miami from our miami office to new york to meet with us, and they all complain about flying american airlines and that they have a monopoly, and yet they are sitting on the tarmac for two hours waiting because, you know, they're supposedly checking security items. so i think what's happening is

it is going to hurt customer base. and ultimately hurt themselves because what's the solution when you have declining revenues? >> i don't think those two things are mutually exclusive though. i think they can hurt them from a public opinion standpoint. the end goal is to hurt these businesses. that's absolutely true. stuart: i don't know what impact they will have. how many shoppers will be deterred from going to wal-mart. how many people will not travel because of these demonstrations. i simply don't know. >> i think airlines -- >> people i have talked to have said i don't know if i'm going to go to wal-mart. i don't want to deal with the ruckus on friday. i'm going to go on-line. stuart: maybe that's the objective, you get the headlines, it is a big negative, they have got the leverage, use it. >> make them feel pain. >> we all agree on this? >> i don't think the airlines are going -- the pilots and so forth are going to help themselves. i think what's going to happen is they are alienating their customer base and other airlines are getting the benefit of it. stuart: thank you everybody. tomorrow thanksgiving of course.

more people seem to be thankful for government handouts than the opportunity they provide. joining us now is doug schoen, a former advisor to president clinton. we have talked about this many times. >> we have. stuart: 47 million people get food stamps. we are i think an entitlement nation. you think that there should be a safety net, and that it's positioned correctly at the moment. >> right, we are a compassionate nation, stuart. and in the worst downturn since the great depression, $133 a month for food for people who need it, the vast majority of it going to single parents, the elderly, young people i think makes sense, it is reasonable. we certainly need to deal with fraud waste and abuse. i get that. but i'm proud to live in this country. stuart: do you think we should extend unemployment benefits? >> i think we're going to have do it until we get enough of a recovery. i think we need a deal on the economy and on the budget and the debt, but i think until we get that, we need to have

unemployment -- >> we have extended food stamps to 47 million people. we have extended unemployment benefits for up to two years and may extend them again. extended reach of earned income tax credit which is a massive check in the mail to millions of people every january. >> who are working and earning money and rewarding them for work. stuart: most corrupt of all government handout programs. >> it shouldn't be corrupt. it was a good idea and started by ronald reagan. stuart: you would not change the safety net as it now stands? >> i would try to make it work more efficiently but would not change it. stuart: you don't think there's anything wrong with a nation which has all of these millions of people, half the population taking something from the government. >> i think there is a lot right about that in an economic time of devastation. we can make the programs work better, but the programs shouldn't be eliminated because there's corruption when there are people in desperate need on thanksgiving. stuart: star of the five, andrea?

>> i actually agree with doug on the safety net point. i think that's what food stamps was designed to do. however, it is not doing that anymore. it's become a permanent crutch for people in the long-term. waste fraud and abuse government says it is going to root it out. i was in a grocery store the other day, there was a girl using a man's food stamp card for cigarettes. i mean that's the problem i have with this type of thing is no one is going after the waste fraud and abuse. it is getting bigger and bigger. at the same time, democrats are saying isn't the economy great while more people are going on food stamps. it is a key indicatorrthis economy is -- has been a failure. stuart: don peebles, do you believe as i do that the president, the administration has used these handouts as a way of buying votes? you give money to people they will vote for you so you keep on giving money to those people. >> no i don't. by the way, i will tell you this, i think the concept of giving money to people and we're only focusing on the recipients of food stamps is actually almost disingenuous. the reality is all you've got to

do is drive down the street here and go to wall street and look at the recipients of significant government bailouts, government incentives, government tax benefits, let's think about this, that the bush tax cuts have been extended now several times. and who gets -- stuart: that's not a handout. a tax deduction is not a handout or loophole. >> actually a tax deduction streamlined for purposes that allow someone to fly on their own jet, technically is being subsidized by other taxpayers. stuart: you're wrong. but hold on a second. >> that's their money. stuart: thank you. >> it doesn't belong to the government. it's their money. stuart: i have to make time for one other item before doug leaves us. yesterday on this program we interviewed one of the patriotic millionaires, that's one of the people who have million bucks and they want other people to pay more tax and them included too. it was a contentious interview, contentious discussion.

i'm going to roll a bit of it. then i want your comment. if you want people like me to pay higher taxes, okay, or people like yourself to pay higher taxes, did you bring your checkbook today? >> i don't have my checkbook. stuart: will you write a check to the government and pay the taxes voluntarily that you want other people to pay? >> taxes are not a voluntary process. stuart: it went downhill from there. the question was raised why don't you write a check? go. >> my answer is very simple. i want a tax and spending policy and budgetary policy that raises the revenue we need for key programs. yes, i will write the check. i will write it happily. we have one of the great philanthropists here who is also -- stuart: you would write the check? >> of course. stuart: voluntarily? >> as part of my taxes, i will pay it. this man writes checks. i write checks. stuart: don peebles, i don't know whether you're in this position or not, but if you were a patriotic millionaire, would

you take out your checkbook and voluntarily pay more taxes? >> first of all, i don't think the test of patriotism should be whether we pay taxes. stuart: okay. would you take your checkbook out and pay? should that man -- >> oh, yeah, i think he should put his money where his mouth is. i think frankly anyone who is advocating more taxes and higher taxes for the wealthy, and they are one of us, then they should write the check by an example. stuart: i do like you. >> talk is cheap. money is powerful. >> that's a great idea. why doesn't everyone in washington who is advocating for higher taxes, schumer, obama, why don't they write a check, perhaps take a salary for a dollar, a great thanksgiving announcement. stuart: love you, andrea. scholastic, i think the share price is down big-time. i want to know why. nicole? nicole: it is down big-time. seeing the stock down over 20% here for scholastic. everybody knows scholastic for books and such. turns out spending from the schools is down.

they have cut their full year forecast despite the fact they have the hunger games trilogy. their numbers are weak here. as a result down 21%. stuart, do you hear something? santa's here! for the macy's 86th annual parade. he's here today. they rang the opening bell. stuart would like a new pair of teva sandals and a new john deere tractor. nicole: i would like a starbucks gift card. justin in the control room wants a fountain for his rock garden. what year did santa go into macy's where they greet all the children? stuart? stuart: no clue. nicole: 1862. stuart: excellent. >> send me a letter. nicole: merry christmas everybody. >> merry christmas. stuart: thank you santa and

nicole. the united nations says countries are not doing enough to battle climate change. that's part of a new report from the u.n. ahhad of a major climate change big committee meeting next week. the u.n. says we need to cut carbon emissions by 14% by the year 2020 in order to reach the goal of limiting global temperatures. lowering the increase in temperatures to 3.6 degrees. very precise from the u.n. all right, company, what do we think of that? i sense here comes the carbon tax. what do you say andrea? >> i think you are probably right. they tried to get cap and trade through last time. i think they are going to sneak a lot through the u.n. here's my perspective on it. i think if you poll the public, a lot of the public believes that some type of climate issue is happening. they just don't think it's an enormous crisis and they just don't think that they should be the ones to pay for it. the problem with that is they are going to put it right on the businesses, they try every single time. and that ultimately just gets passed on to the consumer. stuart: personally i would rather have a carbon tax which

is a form of consumption tax than higher tax rates on income. i think it does less damage to the economy and my incentive to work. where do you stand on a carbon tax? >> i agree with you. the other challenge it is not just passing it on to the consumer, passing it on to the next generation. ultimately if we don't deal with this and address this issue, it will be passed on to our grandchildren and great grandchildren. it needs to be addressed now. i think as you said a carbon tax would be much more effective in terms of having minimizing and mitigating the impact on our economy as opposed to increasing taxes on individuals or corporations. stuart: please don't give the viewers the impression that i'm in favor of a carbon tax. i am not. i just would rather have a consumption tax than a tax on income tax rates. and by the way, i believe the president, his ideas as they're formulating behind a carbon tax, he would rebate, he would charge extra for gasoline -- for oil, natural gas, and other fossil

fuels and coal, but then he would rebate the money through the payroll tax to middle class and poor people. that's how he would do it. it's interesting. >> i'm not shocked, right? spread it all around. stuart: exactly. i have to break in for some preaking news. we have been talking about a union protest at chicago's o'hare airport, possibly making air travel is a bit of a hassle today. well, our jeff flock is at o'hare. he tells us flights have been cancelled. 400 delayed because of dense fog until 1:00 p.m. eastern. if you are traveling today, you want to know that. big deal at o'hare. we have hostess back again in liquidation. the union blames poor management. the management blames the union. but up next a guest that blames you the consumer for the company's shutdown. and she's happy about it. she's next.

stuart: all right everybody. let's call it how it is, the stock market is virtually dead flat. trading is virtually zero. this is the day before thanksgiving. the dow is up just 17 points. now this, 410,000 new jobless claims last week, mainly because of hurricane sandy. an increase of 75,000 claims just in new york and new jersey alone. then we have zale's, also blaming hurricane sandy. it is a jewelry company. they posted a big loss, says 375 of its stores were closed

because of that storm. that was just a few days in a three-month long quarter. doesn't seem like investors think it is just a one-time problem. the stock is down 25%. flowers foods is up. hostess is heading to liquidation. and flowers could buy its assets and buy them cheap. that's why the stock is up. more on the twinkies in a moment. with thability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still y the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro.

stuart: in europe, finance ministers fail to reach a deal on the next round of money for greece. they will meet again on monday. greece has been relying on rescue loans from other euro zone countries and the imf for 2 1/2 years. they will get a bit more time and probably some more money down the road. now, let's move on to the twinkie, shall we? hostess by the way is in liquidation. it is gone. now hostess did sales of 2 1/2 billion dollars last year, but that is down 28% from 2004. hostess says there's a change in eating habits and awareness of obesity trends. that's why their business is down. that's why the twinkie has faded just a little. that means people like our next guest should be very happy. she is the founder of the national action against obesity. welcome back. it's been a long time since we saw you. >> i know. how have you been? stuart: don't ask me. you are utterly just wildly enthusiastic about the demise of the twinkie, aren't you? >> you know, the twinkie, not

too big to fail. i don't feel that way about it. you know, i came up in a generation that a lot of people ate twinkies, there's a nostalgia to the twinkie and a bit of americana and a very valuable brand. i don't think they will really die off. stuart: i'm loathed to do this but i'm going to give you a compliment. i think people like you have had an impact on eating habits and the awareness of obesity. i think that's a good thing. i think you are partly response bl for this change -- responsible for this change. 28% drop in business for hostess, you did it. >> a think a load of debt and mismanagement and perhaps unions did that too. here's the thing, i think it's a harbinger of things to come. we have already seen a decline in sweetened soda consumption for the first time in a decades. stuart: hold on -- >> the sweetened ones, that's why you have seen a shift in industry to energy drink and flavored waters because the sweetened soda has been on decline for about six years.

stuart: how much is the decline roughly? >> about a percent to 2 percent. stuart: but it's down. >> to see it even be flat, no pun intended -- on soda. >> you did that. >> i did it all. i'm killing the twinkie and coca-cola. stuart: there's something else going on with mcdonald's. that may be a very slow economy. maybe. >> i think you will see a continued decline in the consumption of just edible entertainment. as more diagnoses come in for diabetes and more informed parents come along, they are not putting twinkies in their kids' lunchboxes anymore. it's not going to happen. i think you will see companies diversify. you have see nestle not just sell candy but also diabetes bars and drinks. that's what you are going to see. stuart: do you still take a 3

mile run every morning before you eat anything? >> i absolutely run before i eat, absolutely. stuart: how many calories do you consume per day roughly? >> i'm not an absolute calorie counter. it probably comes in around 17, 1800 calories. stuart: that much? >> oh, yeah, because i run so i get to have treats. stuart: i thought you'd live like to 120 if you restrict a thousand calories a day. >> i don't restrict myself. i keep an eye on what i eat. i don't know how to react, stuart. i don't know what to do when you are giving me all this love, stuart. i don't know what to do. stuart: think about it. okay, we're out of time. thank you. >> thank you. stuart: i don't like calling people names but in a true

spirit of thanksgiving, i have a list of the top turkeys of the year. that will be my take, and it is next.

>> if they have to say in the meeting what -- if that's publicly what they say in the meeting, democrats position is not sustainable. let's get the cameras in there. obama ran for president 2008

promising this. stuart: yes he did. >> he wants to put the fiscal cliff negotiations on c-span, good idea. that was grover norquist in our last hour. he wants more transparency in the congressional talks. check the big board, not much going on, up 18 points on very low volume. i want to turn to a specific stock, sales force.com, the software company. it is way up. i want to know why. nicole: we're talking about cloud computing. i mean you know the phrase, right, and everybody has been talking about it, and now sales force involved with this. you can see here up 7%. at the same time, they had results that beat analyst expectations so the stock is up 6.7% right now. a great day for sales force.com. stuart: got it. thank you very much. california continues to push the green agenda. a carbon credit auction sells out. the state forces automakers to build zero emission cars. and remember, the president

obama he won california by 20 points. mike reagan got that right. listen to this. >> does president obama win california by 10 points or 15 points? >> 20. [laughter] stuart: there's still room in my house for you in new jersey. okay? >> see you on the 7th. [laughter] stuart: mike reagan joins the company at 10:35 this morning. is he ready to move to new jersey? we will ask him in a few minutes. who or what are the biggest turkeys of the year? now, i don't like harsh or demeaning labels, but this year's award winners frankly deserve it. here's my take, my turkey list in no particular order. let's start with a country, france. it has elected a socialist president who slapped the rich with a 75% tax rate. then he lowered, lowered the

retirement age. he lowered it. now france has been downgraded. elections do have consequences. then a turkey state, absolutely no contest, california, hands down winner, highest income taxes, highest sales taxes, the middle class leaves in droves, won't drill for the oil, flat broke and want to tax more to save the planet. that was an easy call. now a company, facebook, it went public in may with a truly great expectation going about it. this was going to be the next google. zuckerberg was a boy genius, not, facebook messed up the information flow. the price went from 38 to 19 in days and social networks got a black eye that lasts to this day. facebook, turkey. and finally an individual, again, i don't like name calling, but richard trumka has forced me to it. he's indeed a turkey and just one word justified that label.

he said the rich should start to pay their fair share, start to pay. what does mr. trumka think they have been doing for the last generation? the top 1% pays 40% of all federal income taxes, and they pay that right now. what's this start to pay their fair share? i could go on. the turkey list is long, but i shall calm down and just think about the real turkey that i shall be eating tomorrow with two of my wonderful grandchildren, in america, giving thanks that i don't live in france. i left california years ago. i didn't invest in facebook. and oh, mr. trumka, have a nice day. ♪

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stuart: just listen to this, china is set to build the world's tallest building in 90 days. its name is sky city. it will be built at the unbelievable rate of five floors per day. question, if unions were involved, it would take 90 days to get the permits, wouldn't it, and just set the scaffolding up, the bureaucracy in america certainly wouldn't help either. don peebles is a real-estate developer. your experience please? >> look, i think that the cause for the delays in building permits is overregulatory environment that we face. obviously we want our buildings to be safe. but the bureaucracy and the regulations of the bureaucracy itself doesn't even understand is a big delay. i think unions have the bigger

impact on construction costs. stuart: okay. tell me that story you were just telling me. you're putting up rod and curtains in your office. go? >> we were putting up a curtain rod in our office in new york city and in order to do that, it's $1600. even though it's one hour's worth of work, because it is a union building and only union workers can install that rod, and you could only have the -- you have to pay the union workers for the day, the full day. >> one guy to walk the pole in, one guy holds the bolts, another guy to screw the bolts in, another guy to see if it's on straight. my concern, what about the public projects, stuart, that push out private construction companies that could come in and do the work for cheaper? a lot of times it is the taxpayer funding these very costly public construction projects. stuart: this building in china, i'm sure just going to be the concrete just going up. >> you have no workers rights there, no minimum wage. stuart: that's true. >> they can work 24 hours a day

and so on. stuart: california at it again with more environmental issues. the formerly golden state rolled out its new cap and trade plan, with a pollution permit sellout. businesses bought all the 23 million permits available at $10 each. they allow companies to release 1 ton of carbon into the air per year. the other california green initiative is for more environmentally friendly cars that no one is buying. the rules just got a little tougher for car companies as california requires them to sell clean cars without any credits from the government. got it? joining us now is mike reagan from reagan.com. you know, i'm throwing up my hands. i've had it with california. you're still going to live there. i know you are. but california is my turkey state of the year. justify continuing to live there. >> i'd be in your room in your house in new jersey if it wasn't for sandy already. i mean, what you're now hearing

about is what arnold schwarzenegger did to us. this is what arnold schwarzenegger left us, cap and trade, with what's going on with green energy, most people don't know that chevy loses about $49,000 per car that is in fact out there. remember what happens in 2014 because of governor brown. in 2014 every new home in california is required to have a roof that will hold a solar panel. by 2020, every new building, 10,000 square feet or larger is going to be required to give own energy, wind or solar, they have to provide it themselves. that's going to look silly in the state of california. more people are going to be leaving the state than coming here. remember this state just voted to raise its taxes 7 billion

dollars, and they just found out this week that proposition 30 to pass is retroactive to 2012. it doesn't start in 2013. oh, yeah, we're more than a turkey. stuart: i have got to repeat that. you passed prop 30 in the november election. >> uh-huh. stuart: but you have got to pay that higher tax rate all the way back to january the 1st of 2012. it is retroactive. so when you get your tax bill, come next april 15th, it's going to be a whopping great big bill for people who make serious money. huge; right? >> oh, absolutely right. it's going to be -- it's going to be a whopping bill for those people who make money and more people are going to be leaving the state of california, going to texas, going to arizona, going to nevada, going places where it is more tax friendly. this state is becoming a state of the haves and the have-nots. and it's not going to get any better at all. stuart: they won. i mean, that proposition 30, the tax increase won by a huge

majority. president obama won the state by a 20 point majority. promising to tax the rich some more. what's going on -- what's going on? explain it to me. how can this be? >> i can tell you, there's absolutely no leadership in the republican party in the state of california, none at all. no leadership back in washington, d.c. in the republican party back there. there's no voice. there's no message. there's nothing to combat the message of the democrats of inclusion. the republican party has become the party of exclusion, not inclusion. they talk about ronald reagan, but they don't embrace who ronald reagan was. when you don't have a clear message and there's not a message of inclusion, it's only exclusion. if you're hispanic or asian in the united states of america, what you think of the republican party is they want to get you out of the state or out of the country. they don't want to include you in the country. they have to work on that. i was at a meeting just the

other day -- you will love this one -- i was speaking to 400 people in florida. i said the same thing you have to be a party of inclusion. i said if i could make my point, would all the blacks in the room please stand up? not one black in the room. there were two hispanics. if the republican party is not going to reach out and find common ground with these other groups that live in the united states of america, they are not going to win any other elections in the future. if they have no leadership to bring that out, they don't have a voice of inclusion, it is going to be worse. stuart: i have two politically oriented people sitting next to me. andrea? >> i have to challenge you a little bit on that, michael. i mean, dependency is at the root of this problem. so i don't care if mitt romney was a female hispanic, i mean there were two females, carly fiorina excellent ceos and meg whitman running in the state of california. it's not who the messenger is. it is the message people don't like. >> i disagree with you.

[talking over each other] >> -- doesn't mean you have immunity from being a taker; right? >> by the way, i actually think he has a point that the republican party has not been an inclusionary party. in the past under ronald reagan it had been, but not recently. >> let me tell you, carly -- stuart: last word, mike. >> carly spent money to beat chuck devore who moved to texas and only a million dollars to beat barbara boxer. she gave up on that election. this state has been taken over by consultants who are taking money out of this state and running terrible campaigns. stuart: mike reagan, i'm sorry to cut it short like this because this is a very good and important debate. >> i love it. happy thanksgiving. stuart: to you too sir. thank you. big retail stores will be open tomorrow night. people may be shopping instead of being with the family. so here's the question, have we

lost touch with core family values in america at this thanksgiving? father jonathan morris on that next. @

stuart: oh, this is a top story now, problems on the busiest travel day of the year, very foggy at chicago's o'hare airport. look at this, 150 flights cancelled so far. 400 delayed. this will last until early afternoon, could create a ripple effect across the country.

bad news indeed. lots of economic news out earlier today because the thanksgiving holiday comes tomorrow, of course. jobless claims 410,000, big jump in new york and new jersey because of hurricane sandy. the latest freddie mac mortgage rate, the average for a 30 year, 3.31%. can you believe that? that is a new record low. the dow industrials, not much going on, 16 points higher. no reaction to the news out of europe. no deal to keep bailing out greece. they will decide later. as they always do. back in 90 seconds with father jonathan morris, have we gone too far when people should rather be shopping than spending time with families, have we?

stuart: facebook shares rising again quite a lot too. again, nicole, i do want to know why. nicole: right, those facebook shareholders are saying hey, maybe there's something about this facebook after all. well it turns out mozilla fire fox, a lot of people are familiar with it, now they released fire fox 17 which actually debuts some special technology that lets developers integrate social networks and for now facebook with the browser. so mozilla, facebook, up arrow for facebook. stuart: i'm sorry. i called it one of the turkeys of the year. my apologies to one and all. thank you very much nicole. target stores will be open tomorrow night. a lot of employees are not happy about that. started on-line petition, got more than 200,000 signatures,

don't want to go to work. here's what target says, we recognize some team members are cutting time short with their families to work, and yet, we've heard from many of our team members that they are excited to get additional hours holiday and incentive pay. all right. we're all capitalists, aren't we? have we lost our pursuit of family values because some of us would rather go shopping on thanksgiving? have we? who better to ask than father jonathan morris, fox news contributor, the author of "god wants you happy". >> i love it when you preface a segment by saying we are all capitalists, aren't we? >> we are aren't we? >> not everyone is a capitalist. i do believe in the free market as a great source of good for the american people and so many countries around the world. stuart: you are not a capitalist? >> i am. i would say that i believe in the free market, but i'm not maybe a free -- an unbridled capitalist like you, that there

should be absolutely no restraint whatsoever. stuart: that's a cute put-down wasn't it, an unbridled capitalist like you. [laughter] stuart: okay, all right. okay, thanksgiving, uniquely american holiday, not many religious connotations, no nationalistic connotations to. it is a family feast, you get together with your family. are we losing our values if 40% of the people actually plan to go shopping on thanksgiving? >> let me start by saying that thanksgiving proclamation by abraham lincoln was actually a very religious statement. i would encourage people to look it up. thanksgiving proclamation, abraham lincoln i will put it on my facebook page. he talks about this is a moment for us to go back and recognize the source of our blessing. but you are right, this is not a particularly religious holiday as we celebrate now. it is a time to be with family

no doubt. with regard whether or not stores should be open -- stuart: answer the question, come on. >> i certainly don't want the government to step in and say stores are not allowed to be open. if a small community decides that's what they want for themselves, they could, you know, in their local government decide that. but i think it comes down to families and also business owners deciding what is your value. if being with family is such an important thing, and i think we all would agree with that, yes, i think there's a moment in which we say i'm not going to open up by business. stuart: you're making the assumption we're all one big happy family, the aunts, and uncles, everybody gets say long just fine, everybody has a wonderful time. not true, is it? >> you love pushing my buttons. of course it is not true. you can actually decide as a family we're going to have traditions that help us get closer as a family. that requires individuals, not the government stepping in and saying you cannot open your store, but families say we're

going to have traditions that build up the family. >> families saying you are not going shopping. you are going to sit down and eat that turkey leg. >> that's exactly it, andrea. >> think about how our country has lost its way in terms of values in a meaningful way. you think about the fact that we associate christmas with shopping and that the commercialization of some of our most sacred holidays have been commercialized. i'm a capitalist too, but i do think we ought to have fundamental values. we ought to teach our children what the purpose of these holidays are. >> absolutely. ill think business owners -- and i think business owners have to decide even if this is going to bring me more money, is this the best thing to do not only for my family, my workers but also for society. >> look for chick-fil-a, they're closed on sundays for their employees to give their employees the opportunity to go to church. it hasn't hurt their business. >> every company -- stuart, you have to listen to this, unbridled capitalist, every

company has a social responsibility too. i think this is a great example of one decision that can be made. i don't think it's obligatory, one decision that could be made to say for the sake of you are employees, for the sake of moral fabric of our society let's hold off until tomorrow. stuart: are you done? >> i'm just about there. stuart: okay. enough already. >> why not keep it open all day, right, thanksgiving, right? >> absolutely. i want to maximize profits. >> you are making excuses because your family gets sick of you by noon on thanksgiving. stuart: that is regrettably true. [laughter] >> because you are not making the meal. you should be the one making the meal. stuart: how do you know i'm not? >> i can tell. [laughter] stuart: they are saying wrap in my ear, loudly. okay, thank you father. always good. >> thanks, guys. stuart: just 40 days away from that fiscal cliff, companies moving up dividend payments so investors won't get hit by higher taxes. how do you make money right now

before the end of the year? how do you do that? we will tell you in a moment. or. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal iso camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the marke he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade.

stuart: we promised you ideas on how to make money from now till the end of the year, buy something now and you will have made money by the end of the year. tough job, but here is our next

guest, who has two minutes, that's it. >> that's it, huh? stuart: yes, so start now. >> let's take a look at the fiscal cliff environment we're in. essentially people are scared of the market, right? people are kind of holding back. that doesn't mean we're not going to take risk. we're going to measure our risk. stuart: i'm counting, go. >> all i need is ten seconds at the end. stuart: i want the ten seconds now. >> we like to look at companies that will support small businesses, the ones that small businesses are going to use. we like visa, mastercard, amex, a lot of transactions happen with small businesses. stuart: visa, mastercard, amex, buy them now and you think they go up by the end of the year. >> outperform. meaning they will do better than whatever the market is going to do. stuart: you think there's going to be news out of washington that's good for small business. >> absolutely. -- heard from both sides of the aisle. >> don't go over the cliff, we have a deal coming. >> we may go over a cliff, but eventually we will get to a compromise. the message we have heard in

both parties that small businesses are in favor. >> visa, amex, mastercard, you're buying those? stuart: you have ten seconds to talk, don peebles. >> community banks. stuart: dodd frank will kill them. andrea? >> my family is in the community bank industry, they are being strangled now, thanks to dod frank. it may be easier to make changes to dodd frank with dodd and frank gone next year. stuart: visa, mastercard, amex, interesting stuff, thank you very much indeed. i know it was short but that's what i promised. the highlight reel is next. r ] it'that time of year again. time for cii price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really d't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok.

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stuart: the day before thanksgiving. we have a great highlight reel. yesterday on this program we interviewed one of the patriotic billionaires. did you bring your checkbook today? >> i did not. stuart: would you pay the taxes

voluntarily? >> yes, i will write the check. i will write it happily. we have one of the great later this year. this man writes checks. stuart: i like you. >> money is cheap. stuart: andrea, you did not get in on the question. >> the irs will take it gladly. doug can make the check out to me and i will deposit it on his behalf. stuart: you have the last word, don. >> we should be paying more taxes. write the check. lead by example. stuart: thank you very much for being on the show today. the day before thanksgiving. happy thanksgiving. it is y